A Raincoat -

A Raincoat was an English pop-rock band on EMI that released three singles and the 1975 album Digalongamacs. Their 1976 a-side “It Came in the Night” appears twice in the re-released version of Kenneth Anger’s 1950 art film Rabbit’s Moon.

Members: Andy Arthurs (vocals, guitar), Phillippe Chambon [Philip Chambon] (guitar), Rod Syers (bass), Dave Hudson (keyboards)

Background

A Raincoat formed in 1974 when AIR Studios apprentice Andy Arthurs teamed with guitarist Phil Chambon, bassist Rod Syers, and keyboardist Dave Hudson.

Arthurs hailed from Cheltenham. In 1971, he joined AIR and worked under The Beatles‘ former sound team. He earned his first credit on the 1973 Island Records release These Foolish Things, the debut solo album by Bryan Ferry. In 1974, he graduated from the University of Surrey with the nation’s first degree in music production.

On April 18, 1975, A Raincoat released their debut single: “I Love You for Your Mind (Not Your Body)” backed with “Vote for Me,” both Arthurs originals co-produced for EMI with Steve Stevenson, a prior soundman for blues rockers Someones Band. In late August, “Nostalgia ’75” became the second A Raincoat single, backed with “Not Waving But Drowning,” an exclusive Hudson co-write.

B. “Not Waving But Drowning” (3:42)

Digalongamacs

A Raincoat released their singular album, Digalongamacs, in late 1975 on EMI.

The album contains eight Andy Arthurs originals, including “Too Late to Care,” “Still Waters,” “Well She Said,” “People I Know,” and the two prior a-sides. Digalongamacs also includes one song each by Dave Hudson (“Who’s Mashed Potato Now?”), Phillippe Chambon (“Making Me Nervous”), and Rod Syers (“Morocco”).

They intended to name the album Macs By Graves, a pun on comedian/singer Max Bygraves. When he objected, they chose a titular pun on his 1973 album Singalongamax.

A1. “Prisoners’ Chant”
A2. “You Can Heavy Breathe On Me”
A3. “Who’s Mashed Potato Now?”
A4. “Making Me Nervous”
A5. “People I Know” (2:59)
A6. “Nostalgia ’75” (3:27)

B1. “Morocco” (4:23)
B2. “Still Waters” (4:15)
B3. “Well She Said” (3:09)
B4. “I Love You For Your Mind (Not Your Body)”
B5. “Too Late To Care” (3:16)

Sessions occurred in West London at Trident Studios, where Arthurs and Stevenson co-produced the album apart from Hudson’s self-produced contribution. The album features drumming by Ross Pearlstone, Steve ‘The Ghost’ Wilson, and Roxy Music soundman John Punter.

Digalongamacs was engineered by Trident staffer Mike Stone, a Nursery Cryme and Pawn Hearts tape-op who engineered recent albums by Fable, Home, and Headstone. He worked with A Raincoat in sequence with Queen (A Night at the Opera), Peter Hammill (Nadir’s Big Chance), and Starry Eyed and Laughing.

Digalongamacs features graveyard cover imagery consistent with the original Macs By Graves title. The design firm, Art In Heaven, created subsequent covers for Charlie.

“It Came In the Night”

In February 1976, “Morocco” appeared as the b-side of “It Came In the Night,” an Arthurs exclusive.

A. “It Came In the Night”

Stevenson co-produced the song amid work on singles by Arms & Legs, the pre-fame vehicle of Joe Jackson. In 1979, “It Came In the Night” twice appeared in a shortened (6:49 duration) version of Rabbit’s Moon, a 1950 experimental blue-scale short by filmmaker Kenneth Anger.

In Rabbit’s Moon, Pierrot confronts a jester and Snow White in the woods. It first appeared in 1972 as a 17-minute short with doo-wop music.

After A Raincoat, Andy Arthurs released the 1977/78 new wave singles “Listen to My Brain” (b/w “Come to the Party”) and “I Can Detect You (for 100,000 Miles)” (b/w “I Am a Machine”). He served as 999‘s ongoing producer and also oversaw titles by The Soft Boys, Advertising, Celia & The Mutations, The Chords, and The Purple Hearts.

Discography: